Official Statistics

Forced Marriage Unit statistics 2021

Published 28 July 2022

1. Key points

In 2021, the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) gave advice and support in 337 cases related to a possible forced marriage and/or possible female genital mutilation (FGM). It also responded to 868 general enquiries.

A case in which advice and support is given (‘advice and support cases’) is one where the FMU is provided with details of a specific individual at risk of, or affected by, forced marriage (or FGM), and actively provides advice and support for as long as required.

A general enquiry is one where the FMU may be asked to provide general advice and/or signposting to other sources of guidance or information. FMU began to record these in 2018, separate to the advice and support cases which comprised the annual published statistics.

In preparing the 2020 statistics, FMU made some changes to recording practices. In doing so, some contacts that might previously have been included as a case of ‘potential or actual forced marriage’ but which did not relate to a specific individual where advice and support was requested of the FMU, were more appropriately categorised as a ‘general enquiry’. As set out in the 2020 statistics, this had some impact on the reduction in the number of advice and support cases compared with the previous year, although FMU’s assessment is that the effects of the pandemic likely constituted the main factor.

The change in recording practices was in place throughout 2021. As such, some of the cases which would previously have been recorded as advice and support cases have now been recorded as general enquiries (and therefore feature in the figure of 868 rather than 337). This is likely to be the principal factor in the fall in the number of advice and support cases from 759 in 2020 to 337 in 2021, and the increase in the number of general enquiries received from around 400 in 2020 to 868 in 2021. The effects of the pandemic also persisted during 2021 (for example, restrictions on weddings and overseas travel). As shown above, the total number of cases (advice and support cases, and general enquiries) in 2021 was similar to that in 2020.

The 337 advice and support cases comprised 316 cases solely related to forced marriage, three cases related to both forced marriage and FGM, and 18 cases solely related to FGM. This figure includes contact that was made to the FMU^{[footnote 1]} through the public helpline or by email in relation to a new case. The figures in the rest of this document refer to the 337 cases.

Of the cases that the FMU provided advice or support to in 2021:

• 118 cases (35%) involved victims below 18 years of age
• 120 cases (36%) involved victims aged 18-25
• 53 cases (16%) involved victims with mental capacity concerns
• 251 cases (74%) involved female victims, and 86 cases (26%) involved male victims

The FMU remained fully operational throughout the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic and took steps to ensure that this was publicised extensively. FMU caseworkers have been more regularly invited to attend multi-agency strategy meetings following the widespread move to virtual working in several professional sectors.

In 2021, the FMU further increased its outreach activities and delivered training to over 1,000 UK professionals in how to support victims of forced marriage. This was more than double the number of professionals who attended our training in 2020. Our outreach included the continuation of bespoke, half-day training workshops for social care staff and police officers. We also delivered ad hoc training on request to groups including: police officers, social services, health professionals, local authorities, Border Force staff and community groups. In 2021, 9,964 people from a wide range of professions took the FMU’s “Awareness of Forced Marriage” free online course.

Forced marriage is not a problem specific to one country, religion or culture. In recent years, the FMU has handled cases relating to countries across six continents.

In 2021, the FMU handled cases relating to 32 ‘focus countries’, excluding the UK. The ‘focus country’ is the country to which the forced marriage risk relates. This could be the country where the forced marriage (or FGM) is due to take place, the country where it has taken place, and/or the country that the spouse is currently residing in. The ‘focus countries’ (other than the UK) with the highest number of cases in 2021 were:

• Pakistan 159 cases (47%)
• Bangladesh 32 cases (9%)
• Somalia^{[footnote 2]} 10 cases (3%)
• Kenya 8 cases (2%)
• Iraq 7 cases (2%)
• Romania 7 cases (2%)

The majority (72%) of victims were in the UK at the time the case was referred to us.

In 2021, 11 cases (3%) had no overseas element, with the potential or actual forced marriage taking place entirely within the UK. This continues to highlight that forced marriages can and do take place in the UK.

This document is accompanied by a data sheet which contains the figures quoted in this report. Categories containing data relating to fewer than five cases have been recorded as “<5” to preserve the anonymity of victims.

These statistics represent only the cases that have been reported to the FMU and where the FMU has actively given advice or support. Forced marriage is a hidden crime, and these figures will not reflect the full scale of the abuse^{[footnote 3]}.

2. Overview

A forced marriage is one in which one or both spouses do not (or, in the case of minors or some adults who lack the relevant mental capacity, cannot) consent to the marriage, and violence, threats, or any other form of coercion is involved. Coercion may include emotional pressure, physical force or the threat of it, and financial pressure. In an arranged marriage, by contrast, both parties have consented to the union but can still refuse to marry if they choose to. It is a criminal offence to force someone into a marriage in the UK or to deceive them into going overseas for this purpose^{[footnote 4]}.

The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. As well as raising the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership to 18 in all circumstances in England and Wales, it will expand the ambit of the criminal offence of forced marriage in England and Wales such that it is always illegal to arrange for an under-18 to marry, even if violence, threats or any other form of coercion are not used. This change in the law has not yet been brought into force, and did not apply during the period covered by these statistics.

The FMU is a joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) unit. It was established in 2005 to lead on the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. The unit operates both inside the UK, where support is provided to any individual, and overseas, where consular assistance is provided to British nationals, including dual nationals. The unit also leads on consular casework relating to British national FGM victims who are overseas.

The FMU operates a helpline from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (+44 (0) 20 7008 0151). Outside of these hours, consular assistance can be requested 24/7 by contacting the nearest overseas British Embassy, High Commission or Consulate, or by calling 020 7008 5000 in the UK. The FMU typically receives information about a forced marriage from either the person at risk, from a friend or a relative, or from professionals within agencies charged with responsibility for safeguarding children and adults with care and support needs.

This publication provides information on the number of cases reported to the FMU via its public helpline and email inbox from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021 where advice and support has been provided. The FMU logs all relevant calls and emails received to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the records. The main categories of data that are captured by the FMU include (if volunteered, as some callers may wish to remain anonymous):

• details of the caller/source of information
• focus country
• UK region where the victim/potential victim lives
• sex, age, location and nationality of the person at risk
• disability – be it physical, learning or both, and/or any condition that may affect mental capacity
• sexual orientation (only if volunteered)

The FMU does not record data on religion; no major faith in the UK advocates forced marriage. Freely given consent is a prerequisite of Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh marriages.

The FMU privacy notice is available at ‘FCDO and Home Office privacy notice: Forced Marriage Unit (FMU)’.

Further information about forced marriage and the work of the FMU is available at ‘Forced marriage’, by emailing fmu@fcdo.gov.uk or by writing to:

Forced Marriage Unit
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Consular Directorate
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH
+44 (0)20 7008 0151

3. Forced Marriage Unit statistics

In 2021, the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) gave advice or support in 337 cases related to a possible forced marriage and/or possible female genital mutilation (FGM). This does not include 868 general enquiries the unit received which did not relate to a specific case or simply required signposting to relevant advice and resulted in no further action by the FMU.

The 337 cases in 2021 represents a 56% decrease on the number of cases (759) received in 2020. A procedural change regarding whether to log a new case as a forced marriage referral or a general enquiry has had a notable impact on case numbers.

Of the cases that the FMU provided advice or support to in 2021:

• 80 cases related to a ‘reluctant sponsor^{[footnote 5]}’
• 257 cases related to forced marriages not involving ‘reluctant sponsors’
• 3 cases related to both forced marriage and FGM
• 18 cases related only to FGM

Table 1: Number of cases in which the Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support, 2011 to 2021

Year	Number
2011	1,468
2012	1,485
2013	1,302
2014	1,267
2015	1,220
2016	1,428
2017	1,196
2018	1,507
2019	1,355
2020	759
2021	337

Source: Forced Marriage Unit; Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Notes:

1. As set out in section 1, owing to changes in recording practices the data in 2020 and 2021 are not directly comparable with the data in previous years.

The majority of cases (224 cases; 66%) were reported by professionals such as social services, police, Home Office (generally borders and immigration) staff and non-governmental organisations, and those in the education, legal and health sectors. A further 17% of cases were reported by victims, with the remaining 17% of cases referred by friends, partners, family members, colleagues and anonymous callers (see Table 7 of the accompanying figures and tables document for details).

Table 2 and Figure 1 below show the monthly breakdown of cases referred to the FMU.

Table 2: Number of cases the Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support to, by month, 2021

Month	Numbers	Percentages
January	27	8%
February	20	6%
March	40	12%
April	41	12%
May	31	9%
June	26	8%
July	41	12%
August	11	3%
September	25	7%
October	20	6%
November	34	10%
December	21	6%
Total	337

Source: Forced Marriage Unit; Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Notes:

1. Percentages may not sum to 100, owing to rounding.

Figure 1: Number of cases the Forced Marriage Unit gave advice and support to, by month, in 2021

Source: Forced Marriage Unit; Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

The following sections provide further information about the cases that the FMU handled in 2021.

3.1 Sex of victims

In 2021, 251 cases (74%) involved female victims and 86 (26%) involved male victims. This highlights that forced marriage is a crime which disproportionately affects women, but that men can also be victims. Men are particularly represented in cases where the victim has mental capacity concerns (57% of males).

3.2 Age of victims

In 2021, 22% of the cases involved victims who were aged 15 and under, 13% were 16-17 years old and 18% were between the ages of 18 and 21. Cases concerning young children often involve the ‘promise’ of a future marriage (betrothal), or the younger sibling of someone at a direct risk, rather than an imminent marriage. The case numbers also include FGM, which often involves child victims.

In 2021, 26% of cases involved victims who were known to be over the age of 26, including 17% who were over the age of 31.

Table 3: Number of cases the Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support to, by age, 2021

Age	Numbers	Percentages
15 and under	75	22%
16-17	43	13%
18-21	62	18%
22-25	58	17%
26-30	31	9%
31-40	43	13%
41+	15	4%
Unknown	10	3%
Total	337

Source: Forced Marriage Unit; Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Notes:

1. Percentages may not sum to 100, owing to rounding.

3.3 Nationality of victims

In 2021, 76% of victims (256 cases) were British nationals, including dual nationals, and 19% of victims (64 cases) were non-British nationals. The nationality of the individual was unknown in 5% of cases (17 cases).

Table 4: Number of cases the Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support to, by nationality, 2021

	Numbers	Percentages
British national (including dual national)	256	76%
Non-British national	64	19%
Unknown	17	5%
Total number of cases	337

Source: Forced Marriage Unit; Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Notes:

1. Percentages may not sum to 100, owing to rounding.

3.4 UK regions where victims live

As in recent years, in 2021 the UK regions associated with the greatest number of cases were London, the North West and West Midlands, together accounting for 55% of referrals. The proportions of referrals from each region remained broadly similar to previous years.

Table 5: Number of cases the Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support to, by region, 2021

UK Region	Numbers	Percentages
London	73	22%
North West	64	19%
West Midlands	48	14%
Yorkshire & The Humber	34	10%
South East	22	7%
East	19	6%
East Midlands	11	3%
Wales	8	2%
Scotland	7	2%
South West	<5	-
North East	<5	-
Northern Ireland	<5	-
Unknown	44	13%
Total	337

Source: Forced Marriage Unit; Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Notes:

1. Percentages may not sum to 100, owing to rounding.

3.5 Focus country overview

The ‘focus country’ is the country to which the risk of forced marriage relates. This could be the country where the forced marriage is due to take place, the country where it has taken place, and/or the country in which the spouse is currently residing.

In 2021, the FMU handled cases relating to the UK and 32 other ‘focus countries’. In 2021, restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 also added additional complexity when the FMU were supporting victims to return to the UK from overseas.

Table 6: Number of cases the Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support to, by focus country, 2021

Focus Country	Numbers	Percentages
Pakistan	159	47%
Bangladesh	32	9%
United Kingdom	11	3%
Somalia	10	3%
Kenya	8	2%
Iraq	7	2%
Romania	7	2%
Afghanistan	6	2%
India	6	2%
Yemen	6	2%
Other (23 countries)	33	10%
Unknown	52	15%
Total	337

Source: Forced Marriage Unit; Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Notes:

1. Percentages may not sum to 100, owing to rounding.

3.6 Focus countries breakdown^{[footnote 6]}

Pakistan

Pakistan is routinely the focus country with the largest number of cases of forced marriages reported to the FMU. Cases related to Pakistan come from a wider age and UK regional range than those from some other focus countries.

There were 159 cases (47%) linked to Pakistan as the focus country in 2021. In 71% of these cases the victim was in the UK and the focus was on preventing the marriage before it was due to take place, or preventing the victim from being forced to sponsor a spousal visa. In 28% of cases, victims were overseas when the referral was made. In such cases, support is usually delivered through a combination of consular staff in-country and FMU staff in the UK.

Around a third (31%) of cases linked to Pakistan involved victims who were known to be aged under 18, and 20% were aged between 18 and 21. Around two thirds (65%) of victims were female. The most common UK regions linked to cases involving Pakistan were the North West, West Midlands and London, together accounting for 58% of these cases.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh was linked to 32 cases (9%) in 2021, 81% of the referrals were made when the victims were known to be in the UK.

Of these, 22% of cases linked to Bangladesh (7 cases) involved victims who were known to be aged under 18, and 16% were aged 18-21. The age category with the highest number of victims was those aged 26-30. Three-quarters (75%) of victims were female.

London was the region involving the largest number of cases linked to Bangladesh with 14 referrals to the FMU (44%).

UK

In 2021, 11 cases (3%) had no overseas element, with the potential or actual forced marriage taking place entirely within the UK. This continues to highlight that forced marriages do take place in the UK.

3.7 Sexual orientation of victims

In 2021, 6 cases (2%) involved victims who voluntarily identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).

These statistics are based on the information that is volunteered to the unit; victims were not asked to disclose their sexual orientation.

3.8 Victims with mental capacity concerns^{[footnote 7]}

In 2021, 53 cases (16%) involved victims whose mental capacity to consent to marriage was in doubt. The sex and age breakdown of those victims, as well as the focus countries and UK regions, are shown in Table 7.

Victims with mental capacity concerns were more likely to be male (57%) and older (45% of victims were known to be over the age of 25) than in cases on average.

Table 7: Number of cases involving a victim with mental capacity concerns which the Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support to, 2021

	Numbers	Percentages
Sex
Male	30	57%
Female	23	43%
Age Range
15 and under	5	9%
16-17	<5	-
18-21	7	13%
22-25	13	25%
26-30	8	15%
31-40	8	15%
41+	8	15%
Unknown	<5	2%
Focus Country
Pakistan	26	49%
Bangladesh	9	17%
United Kingdom	<5	-
Other (4 countries)	<5	-
Unknown	11	21%
UK Region
West Midlands	14	26%
North West	12	23%
London	7	13%
Yorkshire & The Humber	5	9%
East	<5	-
South East	<5	-
East Midlands	<5	-
Wales	<5	-
Scotland	<5	-
Unknown	<5	6%
Total number of cases involving someone with mental capacity concerns	53

Source: Forced Marriage Unit; Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Notes:

1. Percentages may not sum to 100, owing to rounding.

3.9 Status of the marriage

The status of the marriage is recorded under four categories. These categories are:

• ‘UK Pre’ (this means that the victim is in the UK and the marriage is yet to take place; the marriage could be in the UK or overseas)
• ‘UK Post’ (the victim is in the UK and the marriage has taken place)^{[footnote 8]}
• ‘Overseas Pre’ (the victim is overseas, and the marriage is yet to take place)
• ‘Overseas Post’ (the victim is overseas, and the marriage has taken place)

The risks for the victims are different at each point. When a victim is overseas, the need for support is often more urgent because it can mean that the wedding is imminent. The security and legal situation in certain countries or regions within countries also affects the level of consular support which the FMU is able to offer.

Table 8: Proportion of cases by marriage status which the Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support to, 2012 to 2021

Marriage Status	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
UK Pre	37%	42%	46%	46%	45%	49%	60%	56%	51%	39%
UK Post	33%	32%	28%	30%	28%	28%	23%	27%	28%	31%
UK Unknown	1%	1%	1%	1%	4%	2%	1%	2%	1%	2%
Overseas Pre	8%	11%	10%	9%	13%	13%	9%	8%	9%	21%
Overseas Post	3%	5%	6%	3%	3%	3%	3%	4%	6%	3%
Overseas Unknown	3%	3%	3%	5%	5%	3%	2%	3%	3%	4%
Unknown	15%	6%	5%	4%	3%	2%	2%	1%	2%	0%

Source: Forced Marriage Unit; Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Notes:

1. Percentages may not sum to 100, owing to rounding.

In general, the earlier the FMU is contacted, the greater the range of options available to help support the victim and mitigate the risk of a forced marriage taking place.

3.10 Repatriations

In 2021, the FMU provided practical help or advice to support the repatriations^{[footnote 9]} of nine individuals. Repatriation figures are not fully representative of the assistance provided to forced marriage victims overseas.

For example, the figures do not include cases where:

• a Forced Marriage Protection Order^{[footnote 10]} was used to facilitate direct repatriation without practical involvement from the FMU
• victims did not require assistance from the FCDO to return to the UK
• direct contact with the victim resulted in no further assistance being required by the victim
• the victim was not a British national and was thus not eligible for consular assistance (safeguarding advice by the FMU was still provided)

1. The FMU can provide assistance relating to FGM which has affected or may affect UK nationals (including dual nationals) who are overseas. ↩

2. Including Somaliland. ↩

3. A study conducted by NatCen in 2009 found that there were between 5,000 and 8,000 reported cases of forced marriage in England (not including ‘hidden’ victims who have not come forward). ↩

4. Forced marriage legislation is devolved; the FMU provides support and advice regardless of where in the UK the victim/potential victim is based. The relevant legislation can be found at: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. ↩

5. This is when assistance is provided when an unwanted spouse is due to move to the UK. ↩

6. See the figures and tables spreadsheet for a further data breakdown for Pakistan and Bangladesh. ↩

7. Cases involving victims with a suspected or confirmed lack of capacity to consent to marriage under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. ↩

8. These cases often involve reluctant sponsors. ↩

9. To come back to the UK or to their country of ordinary residence. ↩

10. “Forced Marriage Protection Orders: How can they protect me?” HM Courts & Tribunals Service leaflet ↩